weight fluctuations & changing your set point

before getting into the set point theory, let me simply discuss weight fluctuations. for some of us, we get confused with our weight, as some days, it goes incredibly high, and for others, it goes lower. 

YOUR WEIGHT CAN VARY BY AS MUCH AS 5 POUNDS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK

(Therefore, that is why some people just throw out their scales through the window because it will sometime drive you insane.)

What can affect your weight?

- Eating foods high in sodium (Keep in mind that salt does not have any calories). Your body will react by trying to balance the scale by retaining more water.

- The time of the month: Most women are familiar with this one. Water is retained when hormones fluctuate, and I can vow that for sure because you can gain over 5 lbs of water weight.

- Volume of foods that you ate the night before: For instance, let's say that you ate an abundance of fruits & vegetables the night before, and though your calorie intake was the same as always, you just ate higher in volume. Now let's take another example of someone who ate at a higher calorie intake, but only ate a large piece of chocolate cake. You both step on the scale the next day and discover that the person eating higher in volume "gained" much, much more than the second person (in fact, the second person may have not even gained). The cake easily stores as fat, but does not show up on the scale whereas whatever the first person ate will come out through different methods.

- Restroom Usage: This one is self-explanatory, but using the example from before, the first person who ate so much in volume will be more likely using the restroom a lot more in order to secrete whatever he or she has eaten. THIS can affect your weight by a lot.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR SET POINT:

First of all, the concept of "set point" means your body's natural weight your body seeks to maintain, even when confronted with a low-calorie diet. Once your weight dips above or below, your metabolism adjusts in an attempt to restore your set point. Each person's set point is different. However, some experts believe you can "reset" your set point (which is true because I have done it before!)

My Experience: When I was in a different country, my set point drastically changed by lowering it by 10 lbs! I did not attempt to diet or count calories over there; it just happened naturally. However, once I moved back to the United States, I gained the 10 lbs in a flop. 

From this experience, I have learned that changing your set point means to completely change your LIFESTYLE. Do not reduce your calories whatsoever (you are just lowering your metabolism). When I made the lifestyle change, I learned that in my mother's country, I was very active, meaning that I walked about 2-3 miles every single day whereas in the United States, I barely did (only when I went to school). Walking this long amount was a form of "exercise" and because I previously have never exercised, walking helped lower it. The second most important thing was what I ate on a day-to-day basis. I remembered that I ate so many wholesome foods whereas in America, I was the type of kid who would eat chips and icecream for lunch. Eating a lot more of fresh protein and REAL foods and "exercising" every single day boosted my metabolism. Thus, it was a weight that was so sustainable...if I stayed there. 

Basically, the conclusion is that in order to really change your set point, you must change your diet as well as activity levels. If you lived under the roof of someone else's, you would most likely be at a different weight because you would have to partake what they ate everyday and your activity levels will be determined by them.